---
title: "Do You Know When to Start Thinking About Culture?"
section: "Team"
sectionId: "team"
date: "2026-05"
---

*Based on Jason Calacanis's startup checklist.*

## From day one — not later

Culture doesn't wait for you to be ready. It will emerge whether or not you set it intentionally. The only question is whether you shape it or it shapes itself.

**Write your culture down and share it with every new hire.** Values stated only in a founder's head aren't values — they're preferences. Making them explicit is what makes them transmittable.

**Build the culture you want to work in.** The goal isn't to design a culture that attracts employees — it's to build one the founders genuinely want to live in every day. If you don't love it, you won't sustain it.

## What to build into the culture early

**Hard work and high performance.** When the team is small, everyone carries weight. Rewarding high performers and holding everyone to the same standard protects the culture from the inside.

**Lead by example.** As founder, your behaviour sets the norm:
- Don't waste money on things that don't move the company forward — expensive offices, swag, conference merch. No one buys your product because of a t-shirt.
- If you want people to take time off, take time off. Your team follows your lead.

**Accountability without defensiveness.** Have the team hold each other accountable. When unsatisfactory work surfaces, address it directly rather than letting it slide — often there are blockers behind it that, once cleared, make everyone more efficient.

## Cross-functional hiring interviews

One concrete practice: have team members from outside the hiring function interview every new hire. This mirrors [Amazon's Bar Raiser concept](/startup-wiki/team-amazon-bar-raiser) — having a disinterested third party in the room gives an unbiased read on the candidate and helps ensure cultural consistency across the organisation.

At LAUNCH, this means an ops team member sitting in on interviews for podcast roles. That cross-functional perspective catches things a direct manager might miss.

## Remove cultural killers quickly

With 3, 5, or 10 people, a single person who isn't contributing or is actively draining energy has an outsized negative effect. Dead weight at early stage isn't just inefficiency — it's a cultural signal to everyone else about what's acceptable.

## Do you know when to fire an employee?

**"If ever there is a doubt, there is no doubt."** When the question of whether someone should still be at the company is on your mind, that itself is the answer.

A related principle worth internalising: *"The ones that got you here aren't necessarily the ones to get you there."* Early-stage generalists who were right for the first year may not be right for year three. That's not a failure on either side — it's the nature of how companies evolve.

**When you do fire someone:**

- **Document everything.** Have a record of the issues, the conversations, and the decisions. This protects the company.
- **Be graceful and professional.** How you treat people on the way out is part of your culture too.
- **Communicate the decision with the team.** Silence creates rumour. A clear, respectful statement moves people forward.
- **Know the employment laws.** Requirements vary by state. Understand the rules for your employee's location before you act.